Talks aimed at final peace settlement between Iran and Iraq continue; UNIIMOG mandate renewed.

Talks aimed at achieving a final peace settlement between Iran and Iraq through full implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987) were held in New York in February. The mandate of the United Nations IranIraq Military Observer Group (UNIIMOG), which monitors the cease-fire between the two countries, was renewed until 30 September 1989.

On 10 February, the SecretaryGeneral met Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati and Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz together, after separate meetings with each.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar said that the "pursuance of efforts" aimed at achieving the implementation of resolution 598 was discussed at the joint ministerial meeting. He hoped that "a new impetus" would be given to the ongoing peace process.

In an 8 March speech at Kathmandu to the Council of World Affairs and the United Nations Association of Nepal, the Secretary-General said there were still outstanding problems in resolving differences between Iran and Iraq, but there were positive developments too. Both sides had recently agreed to "confidence-building measures" intended to promote mutual trust. It was essential that those be acted upon.

At the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on 17 February, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said that Iran and Iraq were working out their remaining disagreements in direct talks under UN auspices.

Three rounds of direct peace negotiations preceded the SecretaryGeneral's meetings with Mr. Aziz and Mr. Velayati in New York in February. Those negotiations had begun in Geneva on 25 August. 1988, with a second round in October in New York and a third in November again in Geneva.

In the early part of March, talks were held in New York in preparation for the next round of meetings at the ministerial level. The talks were held between jan K. Eliasson, the Secretary-General's Personal Representative on issues pertaining to the implementation of resolution 598, and Iraqi and Iranian representatives.

Mr. Eliasson said on 10 March that there had been very thorough and intensive discussions". He had been satisfied with the talks, which had been about the shape and framework of the forthcoming ministerial meetings. The talks had dealt not only with agenda and procedure, but also included questions of substance. "We are making some progress", he said, "in defining the framework of the talks", adding that he hoped that that progress would continue and would be evident at the political level.

On 22 March, the SecretaryGeneral briefed Security Council members on those talks.

More preparatory talks for the next round of meetings at the ministerial level were held towards the end of March and beginning of April.

Mr. Eliasson visited Iran and Iraq in late January, meeting with Iranian Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, Mr. Aziz and Mr. Velayati and other senior officials of the two countries. Mr. Eliasson also visited military observers in the field.

Reporting "thorough and useful exchanges" on the implementation of resolution 598 and the principles of international law involved, the Personal Representative said he was pleased to have received clear expressions of commitment to cooperate with the United Nations for that resolution's full and rapid implementation.

The Secretary-General reported in February that, while a preliminary agreement on UNIIMOG's status had been concluded with Iraq on 5 November 1988, such an agreement with Iran was still under discussion.

The Secretary-General also reported in February that Iran and Iraq had different understandings of the constituent elements of the cease-fire, and on when the withdrawal of forces to internationally recognized boundaries should begin. On the question of the Shatt al-Arab waterway being restored to navigation, they had different positions on the "context and manner" in which it should be addressed.

Renewal of mandate

In unanimously adopting resolution 631 (1989) on 8 February, the Security Council renewed the UNIIMOG mandate and called on Iran and Iraq-to implement immediately resolution 598.

UNIIMOG was established on 9 August 1988 by the Security Council for an initial period of six months to supervise the UNsponsored cease-fire between Iran and Iraq and withdrawal of troops to internationally recognized boundaries. The cease-fire took effect on 20 August 1988 following eight years of fierce conflict between the two countries.

Security Council resolution 598, adopted unanimously on 20 July 1987, calls for a cease-fire, an end to all military actions in the region, withdrawal of forces to internationally recognized boundaries, dispatch of a team of UN observers to supervise those actions, consideration of the question of entrusting an impartial body to inquire into responsibility for the conflict, and the release and repatriation of prisoners of war.

The Secretary-General had reported that the Group was essential for further progress in the peace process. He recommended an extension for just under eight months-until the last day of September-for "administrative reasons". Both Iran and Iraq had assured him, he stated, of their support for the United Nations cease-fire monitoring operation and of their agreement that its mandate be extended.

The United Nations Group comprises some 400 personnel from 26 countries, under the command of Major-General Slavko Jovic of Yugoslavia. They are deployed in various sectors on each side of the boundary between the two countries.

As of 20 January, some 2,000 complaints of alleged cease-fire violations had been made, most minor. Only about a quarter of them, he reported, were confirmed as violations. The number of violations had declined steadily since UNIIMOG had gained the trust and respect of both parties, he said. It had had some success in reducing the risk of hostilities at a number of locations.

The Secretary-General said he hoped conclusion of an agreement with Iran on UNIIMOG's status would clear difficulties regarding the Group's freedom of movement and its use of satellite communications on Iranian territory, as well as to related customs and licensing difficulties. These, he reported, had had a negative effect on the Group's ability to fulfil its mandate.

To achieve full implementation of resolution 598, it must be viewed in a wider context and be implemented in conformity with the principles of international law as it pertained to respect for territorial integrity, nonacquisition of territory by force, the inviolability of internationally recognized boundaries and noninterference in internal affairs of other States. The underlying principle was the fulfilment in good faith of international obligations, and in particular of those set out in the Charter, he said.

The Secretary-General also spoke of initiatives to build confidence between the two sides, including an exchange of a small number of prisoners and some war dead, and an agreement for locust-spraying along the cease-fire line.

His proposal that a mixed military working group meet regularly under the chairmanship of the Chief Military Observer had also been accepted by both sides.

Mr. Perez de Cuellar favoured further confidence-building measures, including the continued exchanges of sick and wounded, and lifting of restrictions on civil aviation in the area.

The Secretary-General said that at the beginning of January 1989, nearly $34 million in assessed contributions from Member States was owed-almost 60 per cent of what was due. There had been $11 million in voluntary cash contributions. Projected costs of the operation, in line with General Assembly resolution 43/230, should not exceed $7.9 million per month, he said.

Other developments

On 5 March, President Saddam Hussein said Iraq was prepared for an immediate exchange of all war prisoners, "without regard for the final results of the negotiations and the different stages on the way to global and lasting peace" in accordance with resolution 598 and the 8 August 1988 cease-fire agreement. If it was feared that on their return those prisoners might be enlisted in

the respective armies to put pressure on negotiations, he added, the matter could be resolved by a commitment guaranteed by the United Nations whereby those prisoners would not be enlisted until "global and lasting peace" had been established between Iran and Iraq.

In a 17 March letter to the Secretary-General, Mr. Velayati said the Iraqi proposal for the exchange of prisoners disregarding the final outcome of negotiations, was aimed at changing the order of priorities in resolution 598 "based on international law" and at "impairing the whole resolution". By its proposal, Iraq was "trying to deviate the negotiations from their determined framework". He affirmed that Iran was ready for the exchange of all prisoners within the framework of resolution 598 at the earliest and following the withdrawal of all forces to internationally recognized borders. The withdrawal was the resolution's most important element.